This week is National Science and Engineering Week. We were very lucky to have pupils from The Red High, Downpatrick, along with their teacher Mrs Clancy, in to carry out some fun science tasks with us. Each group had a mentor and the groups competed against the time and the other groups to complete the tasks.

Have a look at some of the pictures. As you can see we all had lots of fun and we even got some prizes!!

This year the Primary seven boys and girls are trying to raise money for Trocaire throughout the weeks of Lent. We are doing this through a weekly class raffle. The boys and girls, as well as Miss Higgins, are contributing prizes to the draw each week and they are buying tickets for the raffle to raise money.

We are doing great so far and we all know the importance of giving to those less well off, especially during the season of Lent.

Have a look at our weekly raffle winners... some very happy faces!

Maths Projects

As part of the 'Titan's' maths projects they had to design and create a model of a bedroom for the outdoor centre they were researching and designing. The models were fantastic! Have a look...

RED DAY!!

Friday 13th February was the school's red day for the British Heart Foundation. All the boys and girls were encouraged to wear something red and make a donation for research into heart disease. Everyone made a great effort... even Miss Higgins :)

Have a look at the P7 pupils in their red!!

Victorian Topic work: Investigating Bridges

As part of our topic work, we examined the use of Bridges for transport in the Victorian Era. We decided to research how to create such structures and experiemented with different materials looking at how we could make them stronger and join them together.

We then went into groups for a challenge!!

The challenge was to design and build a bridge than would span 30cm and hold a weight of at least 800g. The tricky part was each group was assigned a material: spaghetti, newspaper or art straws.

We had great fun carrying out this investigation!

The great news is all of our bridges managed to span the 30cm outlined in the challenge. Unfortunately some of them could not hold the 800g weight... it was just too heavy!!

However, we were able to discuss and evaluate how we could modify our designs so if we were to attempt the challenge again our bridges would be able to cope with the weight.

Have a look at each group's amazing engieering creations!!

Victorian Inventions Research Project

The P7 boys and girls were given the task of researching a Victorian invention and producing a project on it that we could add to our topic library to teach others about the invention.

They were able to research in any way they liked and also decide upon an appropriate way to present their findings.

All the projects were fantastic!!

Eoin was picked as the overall winner. There were four runners up: Cara, Ciaran, Shaun and Daniel. Everyone worked so hard that they all got a treat!

Well done Primary Seven... we all know lots about Victorian Inventions now!

Research Project Success

Down District 'BEE Safe' event

On Thursday 12th February the P7 boys and girls were invited to attend the Down District 'Bee Safe' event. There were lots of very important groups there to host talks about safety including the PSNI, The Fire Service and the NIE.

We got to do lots of interactive games including 'who wants to be a millionaire'.

Our favourite thing was the Translink Safety Bus. It was great fun.

We also got a lucky bag full of goodies to help remind us to stay safe at home, when travelling and when using the internet.

Let's get moving

As part of our topic on the Victorians we have been learning about dance for P.E. This thematic unit involved the P7 boys and girls creating dance sequences and considering movement linked to music. They had to adopt the roles of pick pockets, child labourers and task masters.

It was lots of fun. Have a look at some of the 'freeze frames' and movements around the sports hall.

GAA Coaching has begun!

The Primary seven boys and girls are extremely lucky to have GAA coaching this year in school. Ambrose Rogers comes in on a Thursday to carry out the coaching in all the GAA skills. It is great fun and very good exercise. They even get to play fun games as a treat at the end of all their hard work!

We can't wait for the better weather to get outside for GAA.

Indoor Athletics

All the boys and girls in KS2 got to particpate in indoor athletics in St. Malachy's High School on Friday 31st January. It was a great day and we had lots of fun supporting each other in our teams.

Team Higgins came second and Miss Higgins was very proud of the great team spirit her group had and it was even more enjoyable because the boys and girls were so supportive of each other. A huge 'welldone' to them all.

In the afternoon 18 primary sevens took part in a schools athletics competition. They didn't let the morning's activities put them off giving their all to represent St. Mary's. as the 'RED' team. Again they had good fun partipating in a range of events.

Our Christmas Production

The Primary 7 boys and girls are extremely lucky because they get the task of putting on a show for the school and all the parents at Christmas time. They were very excited about this and really looked forward to hearing which show they would be performing! The play we picked was 'Robin and the Sherwood Hoodies'. It was a fantastic play and very funny.

The children worked very hard on their auditions and made it such a difficult task for Miss Higgins and Mrs Mahon to assign parts. Once everyone had their roles, they got to work learning their lines, songs, dance routines and getting the all important costumes ready.

I am sure everyone who got the chance to see the show really enjoyed it and all the hard work paid off. There was lots of laughs and lots of fun. The P7s have gained great memories and experience from their play and all the staff were so proud of them. I bet there were plenty of proud parents too!! :)

Robin and the Sherwood Hoodies

Christmas Tree Display

In the run up to Christmas, the Presbyterian Church in Newcastle helped us to get into the Christmas spirit by inviting us along to their Christmas tree display. We had a fantastic time. The trees picked out themes from the Christmas story and they were so creative. We all had our own favourites. Which one is your favourite?

Christmas Tree Display

Halloween Fancy Dress

The Primary 7 boys and girls had lots of fun dressing up for the school Halloween Disco. Can you recognise any of the characters? We even had our very own Hagrid which fitted right in with our Harry Potter themed classroom!! What great fun we all had! :)

Halloween Fancy Dress

Learning in Primary Seven

We work extremely hard in Priimary Seven but we also have lots of fun learning new topics and doing all sorts of activities. Have a look at some of the topics and work we have been doing this year.